


SYSTEM ERROR.

by joe_mama



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, F/M, Friendship, Platonic Relationships, Rated teen and up for language, Sad Ending, Unus Annus, YouTube, like always, mostly mark and ethan goofing off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24011656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joe_mama/pseuds/joe_mama
Summary: It's the year 2039. Two old android models begin to slowly shut down due to their outdated technology. They know they have roughly one year left so they dedicate their last year to know what it's like to live.(This is not my idea! It belongs to @astrvmics on Instagram! Go check out their account to see the original edit! it's real sad lol)
Relationships: Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor
Comments: 7
Kudos: 68





	SYSTEM ERROR.

**November 14th, 2039.**

The room had dimmed significantly since the old Android had first started recharging. The golden hue of light seeping through the window indicated the sun was setting. He always liked sunsets. They looked nice.

A soft click demonstrated he had finished charging. He pulled his feet from his base, struggling as his rusty articulations refused to move. With a grunt, he reached over to the metal table at the end of the room and grabbed the half-empty bottle of oil.

' **Oil joints**!' The small screen in the corner of his vision flickered to life.

"Yeah, no shit," he grumbled, sighing in relief as his legs finally started moving smoothly-- well, as smooth as seven-year old joints _can_ move, anyway. He padded out of the small room, almost immediately bumping into a familiar shorter Android. Said Android quickly turned around, a wide, childlike smiled pressing onto his lips.

"Hey, Mark!"

Mark chuckled, no matter how old the two got, Ethan would never lose his joyful soul. Mark always believed his friend was once a human and never fully died because even the newest Androids he'd seen didn't have such a lively glimmer in their eyes as Ethan did.

"So," Ethan said abruptly, tearing Mark out of his thoughts. "I've been thinking. You know how we have about one year left before we shut down, right?"

Mark nodded, unable to push back a sad smile. He was glad Ethan had gotten over the shock of the realization. They had grown old together, and when their systems started shutting down, Ethan was devastated.

"Well," he continued. "You know that thing that the humans watch? Um, it's like that Netflix thing, but different. I think it's, like, TooTube? No, no, um-"

"YouTube?" Mark asked, unable to hold in a laugh. Ethan joined in.

"Yeah! That!" He giggled. "Well, we've always wanted to know what it was like to live, right? Like, not being a part of the government, and now that we aren't a part of it anymore, I thought we could make a channel!" Mark quirked an eyebrow.

"You wanna make a YouTube channel?" He asked. Ethan nodded rapidly.

"Yeah! And we could, like, do human stuff! Like, stuff our faces with hotdogs and, uh, summon ghosts or some shit," he suggested. Mark smiled.

"Sure. Why not?"

* * *

**November 15th** **.**

"So the clock starts now," Ethan said.

"But the choice is yours," Mark continued.

"Will you join us?"

"Or will you miss out on your one chance to be a part of Unus Annus?"

"Because time is already running out."

"The train is already moving."

"So, subscribe now, because death is coming."

Their image faded into a black background with white numbers in the center that read 364: 23: 58: 19, the numbers going down with every tick of the clock.

Ethan grinned. It was perfect.

* * *

**December 18th**.

Their channel grew quickly, to say the least. By the first month, Unus Annus was nearly at one million subscribers. Mark and Ethan were ecstatic.

They had already done so much, like doing each other's makeup in the dark, drawing newly-discovered memes from their worn-down memory, and making a Thanksgiving dinner with Play-Dough. Their fanbase loved them and their stupidity. The small rings on their temples, that were usually dim and faded were gaining their color back, quickly turning from a lifeless hue of blue-grey to a much more vibrant teal. They felt, for the first time in their existence, happy. Genuinely _happy_.

They gave away their playbutton to their one millionth subscriber and were practically over the moon after reaching two million. 

Not only were they emotionally well, but their hardware was causing much less problems as they started using it more. 

Every video was funnier than the last, and maybe, just maybe, they were beginning to think that they would be granted with a bit more time. They never got their hopes up too high, though. Just in case.

* * *

**June 5th.**

"Just uploaded today's video," Ethan said as he walked into the living room of their shared house. Chica and Spencer, the two dogs they had recently adopted, hopped off the couch and padded towards him, tails wagging and tongues lolling out of their mouths. "Aww, Spencer, look at you with your little sweater!" Ethan cooed, voice high-pitched as he knelt down to inspect his dog's dark blue sweater. Chica shoved her head under his hand for extra pets. Ethan giggled.

"Speaking of the dogs," Mark said. "What are we gonna do with them when-" he paused, gaze drifting away. Ethan sent him a reassuring look.

"I already convinced Sean to take Spencer in. He is a human, after all, and he wanted a dog so he took up the opportunity. Didn't Wade say he wanted a dog?"

"Oh, yeah," Mark hummed. "I guess I'll ask him later."

They remained in silence as Chica leaped back onto the couch where Mark was sitting to tackle him with kisses.

Ethan smiled, eyes laced with sorrow.

"What's wrong, bud?" Mark asked, the usual sarcasm and tease in his voice suddenly gone. Ethan looked up and met his friend's gaze.

"I just- this," he signaled around him. "The house and the dogs and the fans and the friends, I guess I just- I never thought I'd ever get this, you know? And now that I do, it's even harder to know that we're gonna shut off in just a few months."

Mark's gaze softened. "Eth, that's why we started Unus Annus, remember? All those months ago when you told me you wanted to know what it was like to live, and now we are. Don't stress about the future because we both know it's bound to come. Just, keep your head right here, right now."

Ethan grinned. "You're such a sap," he said before erupting into laughter. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, you asshole!"

* * *

**September 15th.**

"Two months today, this channel will be deleted from existence," Ethan said at the end of the video.

"So you better subscribe now. Like, now. Right now. There's not much time." Mark said before turning to Ethan. "Ethan quick, how many hours are left?"

Ethan opened his mouth but no words left his mouth. He squinted, clearly deep in thought. Mark could -literally- hear the gears turning in his head.

"Uhhh," he dragged out. Mark doubled over, laughing his ass off.

"God damn it, Ethan," he breathed out. "It's not that hard. 730 hours in a month, so 730 multiplier by two is... Around 1400 hours." He turned back to the camera. "You have 1400 hours to subscribe, so do it."

Ethan laughed. "I totally had that, Mark!" He teased, smacking Mark's shoulder. Mark side-eyed him.

"Yeah, okay, right."

* * *

**November 15th.**

Ethan seemed tired that day. The ring on his temple shone a little less brighter and his movements were slow and stiff. Mark had asked if he was alright but Ethan had shrugged it off and told him his charging station hadn't been working all that well. Mark wanted to ask more, dread quickly filling his entire body, but decided against it. He had been feeling a bit off, as well. He knew what was coming, and, strangely, he wasn't afraid. What he wasn't expecting was the feeling of sympathy for his new friends and fans and how they'd feel after him and Ethan would shut down completely. He felt it coming with every atom of his being. He thanked whatever God existed that the two had made it to the end of the year.

"Wow, Mark, our last Unus Annus video. Can you believe it?" Ethan asked once the cameras had been turned on. Mark sighed.

"No, man, I really can't." He turned to the camera, ignoring the fact that Ethan would probably make fun of him for this later. "And, honestly, thank you guys. Thank you. So much. We were useless for most of our existence, and, creating Unus Annus and meeting all these new people really gave us life, even though we literally don't have one," he said. Ethan laughed. 

"Yeah, guys," he said quietly. Mark's eyebrows stitched together. Ethan's voice was dull and tired, _robotic_ , almost. He wondered if his voice sounded the same. "We never really thought we'd have anything to live for- sorry, to _exist_ for- until we got into YouTube. You guys are the reason we haven't shut down early. You guys are the reason for us actually being, like, _happy_. This year has been incredible and we can't thank you enough for joining us on our short journey." Ethan's eyes were gleaming with sadness. Mark wanted to comfort him, but he could barely raise an arm to even pat his shoulder. Ethan met his gaze.

"Anyway," he continued. "We have the countdown right here," he showed his phone that had a slow countdown on it.

000: 00: 03: 28.

"And the channel open on here." Ethan showed a laptop sitting in front of him. "And, uh, we're gonna countdown with you guys." Ethan's voice cracked and Mark suddenly felt a wave of pre-grief for his friend overtake his system.

The live chat was overflowing with crying emojis and hundreds of hearts. Most of the comments simply read "Unus Annus" as if chanting the outro.

Together, for the last time, they counted down from ten seconds, to five, to three, to one, and deleted the channel with a click.

Ethan ran his hands through his hair, face contorting with anguish. Mark stiffly walked over to him and raised a hand to clap Ethan's back, but before he could, the latter collapsed like deadweight. Ignoring how much his joints complained, Mark fell onto his knees, grabbing Ethan from under the arms and sitting him against the wall. Ethan's head lolled over to the side, lips curling into the faintest smile. His normally bright green eyes were dull and grey, the ring of light on his temple flickering dangerously.

His eyes went dark.

Mark wanted to scream, wanted to yell at the universe for not letting him and Ethan be born in a human body, but his exhausted software denied the action. He buried his head in his hands, tugging lightly at his hair and shaking his head in grief. He couldn't even bring himself to glance up at the empty, shallow body that once belonged to his greatest friend. Something wet was running down his cheeks, dripping off his chin and soaking into his shirt. He didn't even know he could cry, but he couldn't care less. His joints stiffened and went loose in soft, rhythmic spasms. He leaned against the wall next to Ethan and chuckled softly at the notification that covered his view.

**'System Error**.'

"Yeah," he wheezed out. "No shit."

**Author's Note:**

> hope u liked this! comments and kudos would be greatly appreciated :) they really make my day!
> 
> (and if you didn't read it first, this story idea belongs to @astrvmics on insta so check them out!)


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